BROCKTON -- The 55-year-old Guatemalan man spoke quietly with his court interpreter as the prosecutor laid out his connection to a box of human remains found in Duxbury.

Jose Milthon Freddy Azurdia-Montenegro knew the person discovered in the box, a Guatemalan man who may have been a so-called drug mule for narcotics trafficking, and lied about that knowledge to police, prosecutors said.

Montenegro pleaded innocent Monday in Brockton District Court to a charge of misleading police while they were investigating the gruesome discovery. He was held on $10,000 cash bail and surrendered his passport.

Both Perez and Montenegro worked in the automobile industry, Maguire said, purchasing vehicles in the United States and shipping them back to Guatemala.

They were also both supposed to leave the United States and return to Honduras, a Central American country bordering Guatemala, on the same flight last Saturday out of JFK International Airport in New York.

Perez entered the United States on July 25, 2014 through JFK airport on a flight from Honduras.

His body was found in a cardboard box two days later, a week ago Sunday, at the intersection of Alexander Way and Walker Road in Duxbury. A bomb squad examined the box using x-ray technology, and found what appeared to be human remains.

The state medical examiner’s office conducted an autopsy, confirming the remains were human. The cause and manner of death are pending.

Maguire hinted at a reason for the killing during the arraignment Monday.

He said the only wound found on the body was a 14-inch incision from the breast bone to the pelvic area, causing no internal damage, “presumably to access the contents of the stomach.”

The prosecutor also said that an unnamed source told police Montenegro worked with an automobile shop in Boston that had drug connections.

WCVB Channel 5, citing anonymous sources, reported that Perez was a so-called drug mule whose body had been cut open to retrieve the drugs. The district attorney’s office refused to comment on that allegation.

State Police, with the help from the Department of Homeland Security, picked up Montenegro at JFK before he boarded his flight Saturday.

At first, when he was brought to the Brockton Police Headquarters for questioning, Montenegro denied any knowledge of the victim, Maguire said. That statement, later recanted by Montenegro, led to the lying to police charge.

Montenegro eventually admitted to knowing the victim, though his court-appointed attorney Scott Bradley said his client only met Perez once several years ago through their related work.

“He corrected himself right away,” Bradley said. “The officers and troopers want to have him around to get whatever they think they can out of him.”

Page 2 of 2 - Maguire originally asked for $50,000 cash bail. Montenegro’s next court date is Aug. 28 for a pre-trial conference.

Bradley said Montenegro was staying with friends during his visit to the area and knows nothing about the killing.

“He just buys and sells cars,” Bradley said. “He just wants to get back to his family.”